The 31-year-old officer of the 2005 batch was among the youngest recipients ever to receive the award on Sunday, which happens to be Civil Services Day in Delhi. "Dantewada district is my first posting as a collector. I had asked Chief Minister Raman Singh for this posting in 2011 as I had lots of ideas to implement in this badly-affected district which has seen over 600 people killed by Naxals in recent years.

"There have been threats to my life, but I have my priorities set on changing things. The local people are with me and the tide is surely turning," Choudhary told ET on the sidelines of a function after being awarded by the Prime Minister. Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh, who was present in the audience, also acknowledged the efforts and congratulated the collector.

Chaudhary told ET that constant threats to his life has made him take adequate security, especially after his counterpart and former collector of Sukma district Alex Paul Menon was kidnapped by Maoist rebels. "I know that if I am kidnapped or harmed by Naxals, the area will surely go back 10 years as no officer will again have the morale to do something constructive for the people and locals will lose their faith in the government," said Choudhary.

Dantewada, ravaged by Maoist violence in the last decade, has one of the worst human development indicators in the country, with a literacy rate of just 33%. As many as 183 of the 615 villages in the district do not have electricity; 86 school buildings were blasted by the Maoists, cumulatively resulting in more than 18,600 children being rendered out of schools.

"I decided that residential facilities must be provided to all out-of-school children. The Centre then sanctioned 500-seated residential campuses for this purpose at 53 different locations in the state. Twenty-one residential schools are under construction and 27 are operational. Over 1,000 students got themselves re-enrolled in these schools in 2011-12.

"Local unemployed youths were enlisted to do a survey of drop-out children, and families were convinced to send their children back to these residential schools where all amenities were being provided. This is the only way to control extremism and prevent future generations from following the ideology of the Maoists," added Choudhary.

Due to his tireless efforts, enrolment and pass percentage of students has increased, and 98% of students are now not dropping out only after class 8. "Earlier, out of 38,000 students from Class 1 to 8, only 5,116 made it to Class 9," he said. Dantewada hit the headlines in 2010 when 75 Central Reserve Force jawans were killed by Maoists in an ambush, but three years down the line, people have reasons to hopehere.